Mitsubishi unvail Digital Cable ready HD DVR

[kjnorman]

This story was posted here.

For those willing to wait until the end of the year, and want an open card digital cable HD DVR it looks like there will be several options available, as well of course as the cableboxes that TW will be renting.

STORY
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Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America Introduces Industry's Most Advanced HDTV Receiver/Controller; Digital Cable Ready Unit Features HD PVR with 120-Gb Hard Drive

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- April 19, 2004 -- Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America, Inc., today unveiled the consumer electronics industry's most advanced HDTV receiver/controller, the HD-6000. The HD-6000, which will be available at selected retailers in later this year, was introduced at the company's annual dealer line show in Huntington Beach, Calif.

The HD-6000 includes a high definition PVR (personal video recorder) with a 120-gigabyte hard drive; an MPEG SD encoder; CableCARD(R) slot; AMVP2(TM), Mitsubishi's second-generation Advanced Multimedia Video Processor; an all-format ATSC digital receiver; and an analog NTSC tuner. The unit also includes Mitsubishi's NetCommand(R) 4.0 system control, PerfectColor(TM) 6-way color adjustment and TV Guide On Screen(R) electronic program guide.

Networking is easier than ever, as the HD-6000 comes with a wide array of analog and digital inputs and outputs, which, when matched with NetCommand, makes it the control center for a premier home theater system. The seven inputs include one HDMI, two composite video, two S-Video and three component video inputs. Outputs include one HDMI, one composite video, one S-Video and one component video, along with two FireWire(R) (IEEE 1394) digital home networking ports.

"HD-6000 owners now have the best of all worlds," said Max Wasinger, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America. "They can operate an entire network of analog and digital devices, view and record images in any format, and record their favorite shows in high definition while watching other programming. And because the PVR is part of the tuner, there's no sorting through screens and boxes or changing remotes. What's more, they can record up to 12 hours of high definition of programming, and up to 72 hours of non-HD shows, without having to pay a PVR subscription fee."

The HD-6000 can be discretely added to any display to deliver true high definition resolution, enhanced features and convenient, high definition recording capability -- without PVR subscription fees.

In separate announcements, Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America introduced its new lines of LCD and plasma displays, Digital Cable Ready projection televisions, microdisplay projection televisions, and its expanded line of DVD players, HD digital recorders and receivers, and analog VHS recorders.

Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America, Inc.

Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America, Inc. manufactures and markets a comprehensive line of premium quality high definition projection televisions, HD LCD televisions, and plasma displays, as well as VCRs, DVD players, an HDTV tuner/controller and related products for complete home theater systems. Recognized as the world leader and innovator of digital big screen television and receiver technology, Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America develops audio and video products that lead the industry in quality, performance and ease-of-use. For additional information about MDEA, visit //www.mitsubishi-tv.com.

Note to Editors: AMVP2, NetCommand, MediaCommand, ColorView, PerfectColor, DiamondShield and ChannelView are trademarks of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and/or Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America, Inc. CableCARD is a trademark of Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. Digital Light Processing and DLP are registered trademarks of Texas Instruments. Dolby and Dolby Digital are registered trademarks of Dolby Laboratories. DTS and DTS Digital Surround are trademarks of Digital Theater Systems, Inc. FireWire is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. Kodak is a trademark of the Eastman Kodak Co. TV Guide On Screen and VCR Plus+ are registered trademarks of Gemstar Development Corp.

[Matt Heebner]

Yea, but what is the cost ? Mit's cheesy "Promise Module" was $1000, I can't even imagine what this thing is gonna cost.....:rolleyes:


Matt

[The Law]

Would this replace our current cable box so we don't rent one?

[summerfun]

Originally posted by The Law
Would this replace our current cable box so we don't rent one?

I would guess not, I think you must have the cable company box.

[easylistener]

You do not need the cable companies box.  This would replace the box you have now.

[borghe]

be warned.. TWC may not let you install this.

A friend purchased a digital cable box off of ebay to avoid paying $8/month (he got the box for $50). TWC completely refused to let him install the box. He went all the way up to a middle manager and was told that it was TWC policy to only install digital boxes owned by TWC.

ymmv

[Gregg Lengling]

I think you would need to continue up the chain and maybe even file a complaint with the Wisconsin AG about this.  It is totally illegal to require you to use equipment provided by the service provider.  I wouldn't jump to the AG real quick..if you can't get satisfaction from TW go to the City/Village/Town you live in and see them about the Cable Franchise agreement and come at it from that angle.

This is not a good PR move on their part.  The FCC pushed to get the manufacturers to add Digital Cable convertors to their sets, and in this vein it would mean that TW wouldn't even let you use the built in box but make you use theirs.  This is really BOGUS.

TW are you listening...fix your problem before people cause you a PR nightmare.

[mrmike]

But you'd have to rent the CableCard, so.... you'll still end up paying for it somehow.

[easylistener]

They are suppose to let you use the card.  It is like the cable modems.  You might have to give them a deposit.

[borghe]

I was removed from the situation.. it wasn't even a good friend, just someone I usually see once a week or so for the past few years... though I know him well enough to know the situation and to believe what he was saying..

I honestly didn't know it was illegal to force you to rent a cable box...

and no, TWC can't charge you for the card... that would basically be charging you for access to the access to their system.. the most they could do I imgaine (providing it is illegal like Gregg says) is charge you mirroring like DirecTV does for multiple receivers..

[oz]

mhz40 - any comments on this? I wouldn't mind buying a box to avoid the monthly fee.

[720p]

This box sounds awesome, if the price isn't too outrageous.

[linuxworxorg]

The problem you are not accounting for with buying and using your own box is the security factor. The way these boxes work they must be setup for the security BEFORE deployment. Otherwise they wont work. That is the problem.

[RS922]

The settops used by the local cable operator can't be purchased by a consumer, so the box, while bought off E-Bay, most likely was the property of another cable system.   This is why they would not or could not activate it.  

Regarding the Mit HD DVR with a cable card slot....as long as the Cable Card option on the DVR met the Cable Labs spec, there is no reason why it would not decrypt the cable programs if obtained from the local cable operator.  Pioneer has announced they plan to focus on building consumer devices that will accept the Cable Card devices in the future, so I expect we'll see many types of devices with the option.

[Mark Strube]

This sounds cool and all but 120GB hard drive? If you've got the HD-DVR from TWC, it's 160GB.

120 is a bit small for a top of the line HD recorder that's trying to be competetive to DVR's the cable company is providing.